Thursday, February 16, 2006
An army of strippers and sexual deviants needs to beat down the legislature’s door with giant dildos.
It’s time to take a stand. The Kansas Legislature wants to tax our porn and sex toys.
A bill before the House Tax Committee proposes to slap a sin tax of 10 percent on adult entertainment businesses, like strip clubs and adult video stores.
Legislators want to tie a direct link between these businesses and crime. By doing so they can claim that the tax is paying for damages caused to communities by pornography and adult entertainment.
For decades, moral crusaders have believed that porn causes violent sexual crime.
No solid consensus supports that claim, though. If you want to believe that the connection exists, there are studies just for you. If you don’t see the link, there are reports to back you up also. There are even a couple of international studies that say more porn decreases sex crimes.
This isn’t really about crime, though. It’s about money. Adult entertainment is a multi-billion-dollar business, and politicians want their piece of the porn pie.
Anti-porn activist Phillip Cosby of Abilene testified to the committee last week that the rate should be increased to 25 percent. At that rate, he said, the revenue could be worth 20 to 40 million dollars. Representatives expect the bill to go to a vote before Feb. 25.
The state badly needs more money to run its ballooning sexual predator program.
Legislators think they have found the ultimate prize: A publicly-popular tax. It’s a great strategy with a multi-pronged attack.
Who wants to defend the porn industry and its customers? No elected official is going to stand up and say that taxing porn is unfair.
There is already a built-in support base. Moral and religious groups will flock to the cause as a new way to attack an old enemy.
Finally, by framing the debate around sex crimes, average citizens will jump on the bandwagon to protect their children from the sex fiends. A multi-million-dollar tax with widespread public support — like I said, brilliant.
These politicians are ignoring the fact that the vast majority of people who watch porn, visit strip clubs and use sex toys are perfectly normal and healthy individuals who don’t rape or molest people.
A violent and dangerous minority can be found in many groups, but we don’t use that as an excuse to slap outrageous taxes on them. Eco-terrorists burn government buildings, but I don’t see any taxes on hemp necklaces and trail mix.
This kind of minority approach to selective taxation is ridiculous.
If you love porn, call your representative and let them know how you feel. Our kind of love may not always be free, but it can be tax free.
Farr is a Scott City senior in journalism.
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